So-called ‘on demand’ delivery firms using crowdsourced contractors are unlikely to establish themselves in Germany while same-day delivery will probably only remain a niche business in the next few years, according to CEP industry executives.
Diverse start-up businesses in the USA are trying to emulate the success of Uber in the passenger transport business and ‘disrupt’ the traditional courier and parcels delivery market with low-cost delivery services using self-employed contractors. In Hong Kong, ‘Uber Cargo’ has been launched as a pilot scheme by the controversial taxi-busting company, and Amazon is reportedly looking at a crowdsourcing delivery operation. But the ‘on demand delivery’ trend has yet to spread to Europe.
Responding to questions from CEP-Research, Florian Gerster, president of the Parcels and Express Logistics Association (BIEK), said at the association’s press conference in Berlin yesterday that customers wanted more and more individual services but he was sceptical about the potential of using consumers for deliveries. “I do not believe that using private people will work,” he declared.
Marten Bosselmann, executive director of the association, whose members include DPD, GO!, Hermes, TNT and UPS, emphasised: “The industry has highly qualified staff and customers expect quality services. I cannot believe this (business model) would work here. I cannot believe that people will hand over high-value parcels, for example with an iPhone, and let these goods be delivered in this way.”
More than 200,000 people are now directly employed in the German CEP sector, and about 317,000 when indirect jobs are included, according to the annual BIEK market study presented yesterday.
CEP expert Klaus Esser, author of the study, said that major market trends over the next few years will include the continuing growth of B2C deliveries, more individual services and alternative delivery models such as click & collect, along with cross-border e-commerce, time critical deliveries and innovations.
But he was less bullish about the potential of same-day delivery in Germany. “At the moment same-day is a niche product or segment. I’m relatively cautious about it for the next few years,” he said.
Discussing the impact of the four-week postal strike that ended earlier this week, Gerster confirmed that private competitors to DHL had gained additional business. “Some of these new customers will stay with competitors,” he predicted.
The BIEK chairman admitted that Deutsche Post DHL’s decision to create lower-cost regional parcel delivery subsidiaries was “logical and understandable” from a business perspective but called on politicians to end the postal operator’s remaining privileges, such as VAT-free status for letters and light parcels, and combined letter/parcel deliveries in rural areas. “Politicians must get rid of the privileges and fully dispose of Deutsche Post to let it function like a normal company in the marketplace,” he said.
Gerster confirmed that private CEP firms are investing significantly in expanding their capacity to cope with volume growth but said large-scale investments in environmentally-friendly vehicles are not possible for cost reasons. The association is working on creating pilot schemes in several regions where electric vehicles would be subsidised by public authorities, he disclosed.
He also stressed the importance of CEP operators in supplying city centres and called for support from local authorities for the sector, for example by enforcing private parking bans in delivery zones.
